Under the tree

by Shadow rift

Stars

"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves." William Shakespeare

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The night's air continued to decrease in temperature, going down and down at a relatively slow pace, but decreasing none the less. The Blue Pegasus had taken notice of the decreasing temperature, but had decided to pay no attention to it, instead choosing to simply continue to look at the stars above, under the tree.

Astra had been under this tree for what felt like days, but the logical side of his mind reminded him it was only about two or three hours just because of the position the stars were in. Every time he looked down from the stars, all he saw was the deep brown of the earth beneath him, and the rose he had brought with him.

Astra smiled as he remembered the purpose of the rose, but it quickly fell as he remembered looking through the window of the one he had wished to give said rose to.

Initially, he had intended to give the rose to the mare he had first met when joining his new job. He remembered every day she came by his part of the research center since the day he joined, and every time they did meet, they always shared lunch with one another and talked about their individual findings and experiments.

Every time she had come along, she would always have a smile on her face as she looked at Astra and bring a warm atmosphere around her, and it wasn't long before he had realized he had feelings for this mare. Every time she came around, he would always be as warm and inviting as possible, even when she poked fun at his expense, such as his failed experiments or his Australian accent, which she constantly reminded him of being odd.

None the less their friendship grew and grew, and after some deciding and planning, Astra finally thought of asking the mare on a date. He dressed himself in a cheap black and white checkered pattern type button up shirt (which he found easy to do with wings), packed extra bits with him, and even went so far as to plan ahead on where to take the mare (who's name he later found out to be Colgate).

On his way down to her home, he found a nice flower shop and purchased a single rose for Colgate. With some skip in his step, he continued to make his way down to Colgate's home, remembering the address she had told him before and brought him to every so often, trotting along with anxious energy yet happy none the less. He was going to ask this mare on a date, and nothing was going to stop him.

When he finally arrived at the house, he was surprised to see the lights had already been turned on. He was about to knock on the door until he heard laughter come from inside the house. Peaking in the house, attempting to avoid being seen, he saw a content stallion with a dark brown mane and light brown coat lying on Colgate's couch, holding her with a smile on her face and half lidded eyes. "I love you" she said as she looked up at the Stallion, "I love you too Colgate... I always have and will".

With that, they nuzzle one another, giggle another time, and turn off the lights.
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That was two hours ago.

And now, Astra had once again looked up at the stars. Remembering the events that had unfolded had once again drained him of any feeling, making him numb as he remembered everything, from Colgate's smile to the other stallion. The stallion who had apparently stolen Colgate's affection had looked similar to Astra, the only accepting being Astra's color palette, blue for his coat and dark blue for his mane, and the fact of how Astra was a Pegasus and not an earth pony.

He chuckled as he toyed with the thought of being some what close at achieving his goal of dating the mare that held his attention for so long. For five months he had known this mare, attempt to date her, and fail. He wasn't entirly disappointed at the fact at his failed attempt at a relationship, he was just disappointed at getting so prepared to actually date this mare that he hadn't even thought about another stallion being in the mix. How did you not see or think of him before? He thought to himself, Wait! She never even mentioned a Stallion before either, and every time I went there, I never saw another Stallion there either! Why didn't she just tell me?!

He shook his head and decided to forget about the issue, after all, it's as they say, there's no point in beating on a dead horse. What happened happened, and there was nothing for him to do about it.

He looked back up at the sky, now full of stars and amazing shades of blue and purple, and sighed.

Only to hear a slight *eek* come from the other side of the tree.

Gasping at the shock of hearing another pony being up here, Astra got up and turned around to see what had caused sound, and saw a young, gray mare with a black mane and sweet, purple eyes, with a pink bow around her neck. "I'm... I'm sorry to have startled you, madam" he said as calming as he could at the clearly distraught mare, "Are... Are you okay?"

She shook her head up and down after some time and got closer to Astra. It was only now that he notice the slight blush forming on the mare's cheeks, along with his own. "Yes... I am, forgive me if I happened to... Disturb you" she said as she got back up, now looking up at Astra.

Making her blush only grow as she caught sight of Astra. "Uhmm, are you sure... You're cheeks are a little-" Astra was certain her cheeks were burning as he noticed they gotten a dark shade of red, before she had turned her face away from him before he could finish his sentence. "Yes! I'm fine" she said, sounding rather irritated at Astra, "I just... I'm just getting a little cold up here, and I was about to go home"

"Well, do you think you could stay here a little longer?" Astra said, making the mare's ear perk up at his request, "You mean you're not angry?" He shook his head "I don't see any reason to be angry with you. You didn't TRY startling me and, even if you did, I'm not the type of stallion to hold a grudge"

The mare slowly looked back at Astra, and he tried his best to comfort the mare as he placed a smile on his face. When she turned to look at him, however, Astra began to feel a blush creeping onto his own face as well.

The mare, lit by the light of Luna's blue moon, looked absolutely radiant as she stood in front of Astra. Everything about the mare was perfect, all the way from her luxurious coat to her beutiful purple eyes, and her beauty seemed to shine in the night perfectly.

Astra, although nervous on the inside, showed no signs of nervous energy or anxiety around the mare, and countinued to speak to the mare with a calming voice and a smile. "Why don't you join me? I could use the company tonight."

The mare's blush returned to her face and her hoof was raised to her mouth to hide it from a forming smile. She sighed, "I'm not sure, I'm not a very interesting pony to get to know..." Her hoof was now at the ground and her blush and smile were gone, now replaced by a forming frown, "or so I've been told..."

Astra thought for a moment and his smile soon returned to his face, "I don't believe that for a minute, after all, if you weren't interesting, I wouldn't be speaking to you right now now would I?"

Her blush and smile returned, except this time, the mare didn't try to hide either. "I don't know..." She said, looking at the moon to her side, "Please?" Astra said, still retaining his smile. She did the same as she looked back at him, her blush growing slightly larger and dark, "Well... I suppose I don't need to leave quite yet."

Slowly, Astra and the mare began to walk back to the tree, and after some time, took a spot next to one another, leaning against the tree's thick log and facing the moon. "So..." Astra began, turning to the side of him to look at the beauty next to him, a smile on her face and her eyes shining in the moonlight, "What's your name?"

The mare turned to look at Astra, her blush from earlier now replaced with pink splotches on her cheeks. "Octavia" she said, refined and sophisticated, with an accent something akin to a British accent, "Octavia Melody"

"Thats quite a beautiful name if I say so myself for such a-" Astra cut himself short, unsure of the results which may unfold if he let this made aware of his feelings. "Such a what?" She asked, but quickly blushed after a few seconds of thought and turned away from him. This mare, though seemingly sophisticated, actually seemed quite shy and timid at any time Astra had attempted to make any hints at her, most likely due to the fact that they had just met and he already had feelings for her. Although who couldn't? This mare was obviously beautiful, sophisticated, and even fun to be around, who couldn't enjoy her company?

Please just don't hate me after this... Or be dating somepony else.... Or married.... Or engaged.... Or-

"Astra" he said after some time and looked up at the mare, "My own name is Astra Aquaduct. Although anypony who may be close to me calls me by my first name."

Octavia's ears flicked up at hearing his name, and slowly, she looked back up at him, her blush still evident on her face. After a while, she giggled, "that's quite the name for such a..."

"A...?" Astra asked, but quickly retracted it after thinking more on it, and suddenly burst into laughter. She joined him, and together they laughed until their stomachs couldn't take it anymore. After gathering his breath, Astra finally spoke, "Right... Sorry about that..." He said as he rubbed his head, trying desperately hard to rid himself of the blush on his cheeks.

"No need..." She said after gathering her own breath, "... To apologize, you were only being polite." She said as she got close to Astra, their muzzles mere inches away from each other's.

Astra's blush grew as he felt her warm breath on his muzzle and mouth, taking notice of her distance from him. Eventually, she noticed too and quickly made the gap between their muzzles larger. This mare was more shy than Astra thought she was, and although it may be seem cold of him, he enjoyed her shyness. It was some what cute in a way, but made her seem vulnerable. No wonder why she shows herself as sophisticated so much...

"So tell me then, Ms. Melody?" She nodded, noticing Astra's question, "What do you do?"

"What?" She asked, getting over her shyness and looking back up at him, her blush now gone and replaced with a look of confusion, "I mean, what do you do for a living?" The treble clef adorning her flank told him that she was playing some type of instrument, but other than that, there wasn't too much Astra could tell.

The mention of her line of work made her look of confusion turn to a look of sadness, for reasons Astra couldn't really understand either. "I'd rather not discuss my line of work... It's what brought me up here" Octavia said as she looked at the large blue moon before her, "me too..." Astra said barely above a whisper, but evidently sparked enough interest in the mare next to him to look back at him.

"You too?" She asked, "What do you mean you too? What brought you up here?"

Her question brought up memories from two or so hours ago that Astra had so neglected since meeting Octavia. What should I do? Should I tell her? He thought as he weighed. On one hoof, if he told her, he would be honest with Octavia and have nothing on his soul, but on the other hoof, he didn't want her to think he could easily give up on a mare and jump after another. So there was only one thing to do...

Tell her as little as possible.

"I've been having some trouble at my job recently. Coming up here helped me on my next course of action" it wasn't exactly the truth, but it was close enough to it that he could avoid her judgement. "Where do you work?" She said, curiousity being completely evident in her voice, "I work as a scientist in practically every field. From chemistry to astronomy, although I mainly focus on oceanography"

"You do?" She said, her cheeks now gaining a small amount of pink tint in them, "I'm... I'm sorry". Her apology confused Astra slightly, what purpose was an apology needed, "I don't quite follow you... What do you mean you're sorry?"

"I, uh, didn't quite think you were a... A scientist with an accent like that... Or being a Pegasus..." He thought about what she just said, unsure of whether to brush it off, or to take it much more serious than that. In the long run, he chose the latter, "Don't be, after all most ponies don't know anyways when they first meet me. What about you? What do you do?"

Her face, once again, took a look of sadness at his question and looked back down at the ground, "I don't think I should tell you...". He placed a hoof on her own hoof, instantly making her head look back up at him and her pink tint becoming more seen, "I told you my own story... I'd be greatful if you could tell me your own". She opened her mouth, ready to object, but closed it and decided to abandon her sentence. With a sigh, she spoke, "I suppose I could tell you... After all... It's only fair."

"My true profession is music, as you could probably tell, and my instrument of choice is a cello. Ever since I was a young filly, I dreamed of becoming Equestria's next greatest musical protege and have been training all my life to join the philharmonica symphony." Her eyes suddenly had liquid coming to them, but she paid no mind to it and continued on with her story, "I would practice until my hoofs were numb and play like nothing anypony had ever heared before. Wherever I played as a young school filly, audiences would look upon me with amazement" a smile creeped across her face as she remembered her past, but fell when she remembered the present, "One day, the opportunity arose for my wish to finally be granted when I was told the orchestra would be here in Ponyville for auditions, and I practiced as hard as I ever had. Finally the day arrived for me to show the judges what I could do, and I played the best I ever had." Her voice now sounded shakier than before, and the tears from her eyes had now threatened to be released.

"Today I got the letter from the orchestra... And... And... And..." Octavia didn't need to finish her sentence before Astra had wrapped his arms and wings around her, and in his grasp, she let loose the tears that she had tried to hold back. Astra continued to let her cry into his shoulder and began stroking her mane, hoping it would bring her some comfort, but to no avail. His day began to replay itself up until the part of seeing Colgate kiss the other colt who looked practically identical to him, minus his color scheme and wings, and in no part of his life did he experience what the crying mare in his arms did.

To think that she had practiced all her life for a dream, only to have it dangled over her head every day of her life and forcibly yanked from her hooves. And right now, nothing was more important to Astra than to comfort this mare in her time of need. "Shhhhhhhh..." He said as he continued to stroke Octavia's mane in his minuscule attempt at comfort, "There, There."

"I worked s-s-so hard for s-s-so many years only t-to have been R-r-rejected" she said and then continued to cry. "I know, I know." He said, "But you know what? Who cares about what they thought?" He then took a hoof and placed it under Octavia's chin, lifting it to look at him while offering a warming smile, "What matters is what your audience thought. If the orchestra didn't want you, then that's there loss. From what I can tell, you seem to have more talent than anypony in that entire orchestra could ever possess. You're talented, intelligent, fun to be around, and beutiful, if those lousy ponies couldn't see anything that I do, then they just gave up the opportunity to have the best performer that they have ever had in the history of Equestria!"

She continued to look at Astra, the moonlight continuing to light her in a way that Astra couldn't imagine was possible. "D-Do you really mean that?" She said, a blush being seen even in the blue light. He shook his head, "Every last word."

And with that, Octavia closed the gap between them, enveloping Astra's lips with her own. At first, he was suprised by her sudden display of affection, but quickly decided to return her kiss with his own. Gone were either's thoughts of each other's woes, and now replaced by each other's company, warmth, and affection towards one another. The light continued to shine down on the two, sending even more warmth to protect them from the chilly wind of the world.

After some time, both Octavia and Astra had pulled away from their shared kiss, breathing for air and blushing. "Wow" he said, smiling and panting like an idiot, making Octavia giggle and blush at his comment. Looking back at the moon and stars before suddenly turning back at Astra, "It appears as though it's getting late, I think it's about time that we both went home." She then got up onto her hooves and began walking away from the tree, before suddenly stopping and looking back at the tree, seeing Astra still sitting at the tree. "I was wonder if you would like to..." She said as she playfully dug and the ground with her hoof, smiling and blushing at the thought of bringing him home with her. She didn't need to finish for Astra to start flapping his wings and float over to her, a smile still on his face, "Nothing would make me happier."

Comments

[Crimson ichor]

A great improvement from your last story, that's for sure! But, you may want to create a new paragraph when two different characters speak or perform an action. Like here:

"Well, do you think you could stay here a little longer?" Astra said, making the mare's ear perk up at his request, "You mean you're not angry?" He shook his head "I don't see any reason to be angry with you. You didn't TRY startling me and, even if you did, I'm not the type of stallion to hold a grudge

It should be:

"Well, do you think you could stay here a little longer?" Astra said, making the mare's ear perk up at his request.

"You mean you're not angry?"

He shook his head "I don't see any reason to be angry with you. You didn't TRY startling me and, even if you did, I'm not the type of stallion to hold a grudge"

Other than that, it was a great story overall.

[Shadow rift]

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Thanks for the input Crimson!
Yeah, I definitely tried to make this story better than my last one simply due to the fact that even I HATED IT.